Community representatives involved in community benefits discussions should aim to build broad consensus locally on the purposes and shape of the community benefit package, and reflect that consensus back to the renewable energy business. No one individual should be deemed responsible for community benefits discussions – ideally the working / steering group should agree a common position before any view is relayed to the renewable energy business. They should provide feedback to a wider group (such as the community council) at key junctures in the discussions, and ideally the wider community as a whole. Minutes of meetings between community representatives and the renewable energy business should be publicised.
Where they exist, community councils can and do play an enabling role within their communities around setting up community benefits and facilitating discussion with other groups. Community councillors are elected representatives and accountable under a standard set of rules (within the local authority scheme for community councils) and a code of conduct. They will normally be the first port of call for a renewable energy business’s engagement in a community. Where a community council does not exist, there is an expectation that the renewable energy business will engage with another community body that is representative of the views of local people, again if one exists.
There may be some significant other local groups/interests not represented through the community council (or alternative body) but with an appetite for and stake in a potential community fund. Renewable energy businesses, and indeed community councils, should make efforts to identify these groups and ensure they are also engaged and their views reflected in community benefit discussions. Understanding the local context, conducting a stakeholder mapping exercise, and building networks through a genuine community development approach are key to these efforts. See the modules Understanding Community Context and the Developing a Fund Strategy annex for more detail on these activities.
